Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (30 page)

He swiveled her chair around and around. He shouldn't be here. He had to find and kill Skull Krusher. Big Don wasn't a patient man, and they were running out of time.

As the minutes passed, he could feel strength fueling his body. Fighting Killa had taken a toll, but not a serious one.

The door opened, and he whirled around in his seat to see who had come in, hoping it was Julianna so he could leave and get to work. Once Skull Krusher learned his pet was dead, who knew what he might do.

To his disappointment, it wasn't Julianna.

"Mrs. Gilbert." His heart ached. She looked worn, almost sickly. Dark circles beneath her eyes, lines around the mouth, her clothes too big for body as if she had recently lost weight. She removed her hat and tucked it under her arm.

"Hi, Nick. Is Julianna here? No? I wanted to talk to her. Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you. Maybe this can wait..." She placed her hat back on her head and turned toward the door.

"Wait. There's something I need to tell you." His heart raced, and his palms grew sweaty. He couldn't live this way anymore. "That night... the night of Justina's funeral..."

Mrs. Gilbert's face whitened. "Nick..."

"I did it. I killed him. I killed Bobby." The words came out easier than he expected, although in a garbled rush.

Confusion filled her eyes, but not horror, and she didn't recoil. "I beg your pardon?"

"I killed Bobby." He offered no details, no excuses. He was a murderer.

Silence descended, and Nicholas stared at her brown shoes. He couldn't bear to look at her, into the eyes of the mother of the boy he had killed.

The silence grew heavy and oppressive, and he glanced up. She looked dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry," he said. It was the truth. Until this very moment, he hadn't regretted killing Bobby. Now he did. Killing Bobby had been wrong. It hadn't brought Justina back. It had stolen another life before it had been fully lived.

"Oh, Nick." Mrs. Gilbert's knees buckled, ready to collapse. He wheeled the chair from around the desk, and she sank into it. "Bobby wanted to die."

"What?"

"Bobby was a very troubled young man. I tried to help him... The first time he tried to kill himself, he took a bunch of pills. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital, and they pumped his stomach. Then he purposely overdosed. Again, they were able to save him." She closed her eyes, her shoulders hunched, as if trying to duck inside a turtle shell.

"Why was he suicidal?"

"When I found out he was a drug dealer, I almost disowned him, but he was all I had after Shawn died. I couldn't do it. I thought I could talk him out of it, and I thought I was making progress." She lifted her gaze to look at Nicholas before staring at the desk. "Then he met a girl and hooked her on drugs. He talked about her all the time. He grew to love her."

Nicholas tightened his jaw. "Justina."

"Yes. He bought her a ring. I don't know if he actually ever did propose, but everyone but Bobby knew she would never leave you."

"Yes, she did. She committed suicide."

Mrs. Gilbert twisted her hat in between her hands. "That's just it," she whispered. "What I wanted to tell you."

The door opened with a bang. "I got it," Julianna said breathlessly. "Hunter came through and... Oh, hello, Mrs. Gilbert. Is something wrong?"

"Julianna, good, I'm glad you're here."

Julianna knelt at her side. "Do you need me to get you anything? Your hands are freezing."

Sweat formed on the older woman's ashen face. "Please, listen. My Bobby loved Justina, but she didn't love him back. He didn't mean to, I'm sure he didn't know what he was doing at the time, but the day of her funeral, he told me he... he gave her contaminated drugs."

"He killed her," Nicholas growled.

Julianna gasped and pulled away, her hands covering her mouth.

"Yes." A tear ran down Mrs. Gilbert's cheek and plopped onto her hand. "Afterward, he felt so guilty. I didn't let him out of my sight. I was so afraid he was going to try to take his life again. Then he ran away, I can only assume to the funeral..."

"And then I killed him."

Another tear followed the previous one's path. "If you hadn't, he would have tried again and again until he succeeded. It was only a matter of time. What's the term? Cop-assisted suicide?"

"When someone is too afraid to kill themselves, so they commit a crime, intending for the police to shoot them," Julianna murmured. She shook her head, and the dazed look on her face lessened. "Why tell us this now, Mrs. Gilbert?"

"Seeing Nick again... The guilt has been eating me alive. I also thought of Bobby as a good boy, but he wasn't. I went wrong somewhere. I failed him. But hiding his crime, letting everyone think they both committed suicide, I... I couldn't do it any longer." Mrs. Gilbert pressed her hand to her chest. "It's so warm in here," she murmured before slumping over.

"Mrs. Gilbert? Mrs. Gilbert!" Julianna shook her arm. "Nick, call an ambulance."

Instead, he picked her up and raced her to the hospital. Julianna arrived minutes later, and they sat in the waiting room, not talking about what they had just learned. They held hands, a lifeline for each other. Eventually, a doctor informed them Mrs. Gilbert would be fine. She had suffered a severe panic attack.

Julianna drove him back to the police station, white-knuckling the steering wheel.

"What now?" Nicholas asked.

"Concerning Mrs. Gilbert?"

He nodded.

"Well, she could be charged. I mean, she withheld information that would have led to an investigation for murder."

"Justina's murder. I murdered her murderer."

"No. You were tricked into killing Bobby."

"Julianna, you weren't there. I remember every second of that fight. I pressed the trigger. I had complete control of the gun. He didn't force me to shoot him. I did it."

"Still, it was self-defense."

He chuckled weakly. "You want me to get off scot-free?"

"Not scot-free. You've been carrying around guilt for years, just like Mrs. Gilbert. You have to move on from that."

"Just like I've moved on from Justina." For so long, he had carried his guilty secret within him. It weighed him down, partly explaining why he never bothered to find a place to settle down, never tried harder to do something with his life. He hadn't felt worthy. He should have died that night.

Yet, living had been his penance.

"Just take it one day at a time," Julianna said softly.

She parked, and they walked to the front of the police station. Julianna reached for the doorknob. He touched her shoulder, and she turned to him.

"Remember, you aren't a bad guy."

He crushed his mouth to hers, drinking her in. He didn't deserve her. She would keep him in line, keep him from doing anything so stupid and reckless again. He needed her order. She needed his strength. Together, they were unstoppable.

*****

He found his prey walking out of a restaurant. With a stocky build and a swagger, Karl Coleman looked like a younger version of his father.

Karl was talking to a young woman, probably a girlfriend.

He approached them, stalking them through the shadows. When he was a block away, the woman noticed him and screamed.

Karl, the coward, pushed her toward him, turned, and ran.

Stupid girl, he thought as he bounded past her. Crying and screaming, she was as irritating as that other twit. At least she would be better off without this loser in her life.

Karl was a surprisingly swift runner but still no match for him. He grabbed his prey and bounded away to his foreclosure. Now he had to wait for news of the kidnapping to reach Big Don. Big Don would do anything to get his son back.

Not that Karl Coleman had much longer to live.

Chapter Forty-Six

"And now the mayor's missing," Julianna said.

"Do you think he's gone into hiding?" Gavina asked, fiddling with the trephine needle in her hand. She had come over to the police station after Hunter Walter had showed her how to use it. Her role was to inject the special cortisone mixture into Skull Krusher's bones. That is, if everything went according to plan.

"I wouldn't blame him," she lied. To abandon the people of Falledge at the first threat of real danger was unforgivable. They needed leadership and solidarity more than ever before

Gavina opened her mouth to respond, but the phone rang.

"Falledge Police Station, this is Sheriff Paige, how can I help you?"

"Julianna. Thought you might want to know about a kidnapping."

"Who?" She raised her eyebrows, surprised Sheriff Palmerton had taken the time to call her himself.

"Karl Coleman."

"Sh--wow. What's going on?"

"His men have been causing a major ruckus. There's been a frenzy of crime. The so-called Big Don is a mess right now. Someone is gunning for him. One of his warehouses has been attacked and his ship--"

"Why are you calling me?"

"I overheard him telling one of his cronies that if anything happens to his son, he's leaving Lightmeadow."

Big Don had too many investors and his business operations were too large for him to relocate to a faraway location.

"Falledge," she breathed.

"Just wanted to give you a heads up. By the way, you any closer to solving those murders of yours?"

"You any closer to solving the laboratory explosion?" she retorted.

"I have more important matters to worry about right now. Besides, I know you've been talking to Hunter Walter. Why you're bothering with my town's affairs instead of your own--"

"Thank you for the information, Sheriff Palmerton. I'm sure you're quite busy. I'll let you get back to work." Without waiting for a response, she hung up.

"Oh, boy, you looked pissed." Gavina looked positively giddy at the idea for some reason.

"Skull Krusher kidnapped Karl Coleman. Lewis had ties to the mafia. Skull Krusher must have been going after both of his employers. It's all starting to make sense now." She stood and paced around her desk.

"Do you think this Karl Coleman is still alive?" Gavina asked.

Julianna stopped pacing. She stared at the witch's completely somber expression, a striking contrast to its previous emotion. "If he is, it won't be for long."

"So now what?"

Julianna bit her lower lip. "I think I know where he might be held."

"Tell me where. It's too dangerous for you to go save him."

She narrowed her eyes. "So you should go save Karl? What about the cortisone?"

Gavina's shoulders slumped. "You're right. I have my part." She glanced around the empty police station. "Where's Nick?"

"He wanted to talk to Ginny before the showdown." Julianna stared at her shoes. She needed new ones. They were all scuffed up.

"I'm sure he's not saying goodbye," Gavina voiced Julianna's fear aloud. She was trying to bury the fear deep within, as if ignoring it would make it go away. "He'll be back in no time."

As if summoned, the front door opened, and Nick strolled in. He walked with a swagger, his head high, but his eyes were dark.

Julianna hurried over and took his hands in hers. "What is it?"

His hazel eyes bored into hers, and she shivered. "Ginny wasn't feeling well so I took her to the hospital."

"Oh no! Will she be all right?"

"She'll be fine. Bobby's mom on the other hand..." He hung his head. She reached over and squeezed his hand as he added, "She killed herself. Swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills."

Julianna let out her breath in an astonished sigh. "Wow."

Nick gave her a weak smile before turning to Gavina. "You ready?"

"Let's do this," the witch said, her face a poor mask unable to hide her shock at his grave news.

"Stay here," Nick instructed Julianna. "I'll come right here as soon as it's finished."

Julianna didn't have time to voice a negative, or anything at all, before the two vanished.

Stay here. Of course she wouldn't.

With a deep breath and a heavy heart, and some fear, Julianna left the police station behind. It was her turn to be a hero.

She just hoped she wouldn't run into Skull Krusher on her mission.

Or that her mission had already failed and Karl Coleman was already dead.

*****

Nicholas and Gavina flew through the town. Not that Nicholas was flying, but his legs were moving fast enough to be a blur. Gavina was the flyer, hovering above his shoulder, keeping pace with him.

Screams soon reached their ears. They changed direction toward the sound and found Skull Krusher at the mayor's house. On the roof. With the mayor. Dangling him over the edge.

"Let him go!" Nicholas shouted.

The skeleton eerily smiled with his lipless mouth. "If you want."

The bastard let go.

Gavina zoomed over and caught the mayor. They thudded to the ground. Obviously he weighed more than she had expected.

Nicholas approached. Gavina's outfit -- a purple peasant blouse and skintight black leather pants -- was already soaked with blood. The mayor's. The dead mayor's.

Figuring Gavina could free herself, Nicholas jumped onto the roof. Skull Krusher still stood there, smiling.

"Everything is coming together." Skull Krusher held out his arms in a boxer's fisted stance.

"What do you want?" Nicholas asked. If he could draw the monster into a conversation, Gavina might be able to sneak up on him with the trephine needle. Not that he expected the skeleton to talk.

"I want you to stop screwing up my plans. And I gather you won't until I kill you. So be it." Skull Krusher lunged for him.

Nicholas jumped to the side, but the skeleton matched him move for move and plowed into his stomach. They rolled toward the edge. Skull Krusher shoved his weight to the right, and they started to fall until Nicholas grabbed onto the edge. Skull Krusher's bony hands squeezed around Nicholas' ankles as they both dangled from the roofline.

Nicholas kicked, but Skull Krusher's grip held too tight -- crushing even. He heard something
pop
.